Man who fled fatal New Milford accident gets four years in prison

Susan Tuz

Published 11:41 pm, Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Former New Milford resident Ryan Cable, 28, was sentenced to 15 years in prison to be suspended after four years and followed by three years probation in the collision death of Jane Ryan, a Ridgefield resident.
Photo: Contributed Photo

Former New Milford resident Ryan Cable, 28, was sentenced to 15...

Jane Ryan, a 65-year-old retired teacher from Ridgefield, was killed in a hit-and-run accident in New Milford in April 2013.
Photo: Contributed Photo, Courtesy Of The Ryan Family

A man who fled the scene of a fatal accident that killed a Ridgefield woman in 2013 will serve at least four years in prison.

Ryan Cable, 28, had pleaded guilty earlier this summer to second-degree manslaughter and evading responsibility, charges stemming from a head-on collision on Danbury Road in New Milford that killed 65-year-old Jane Ryan.

After the accident, surveillance cameras showed that Cable spoke briefly to a witness, then went into the bathroom of a nearby gas station, court documents show. He emerged seconds later from a rear door, and was seen slipping through a hole in a back fence before disappearing.

Cable was arrested a week later in Rhode Island, where he waived extradition.

On Friday, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but Judge James P. Ginocchio suspended the sentence after four years and ordered Cable to serve three years' probation on top of the prison time.

Jane Ryan's husband, Kevin, was present at the sentencing with the couple's four grown daughters, Kelly Merino and Shannon, Pamela and Mary Catherine Ryan.

"The sentencing on Friday gave us some sense of solace and slight sense of closure," Kevin Ryan said Tuesday. "Whether he's there for four years, five years or 50 years, it's not going to bring Jane back."

The couple had just bought a house in Washington and were in the process of moving there when Jane Ryan was killed.

Kevin Ryan said he was grateful for the way he and his family were treated by authorities as the case wound its way through the system.

"We feel the state's attorney and everyone we dealt with in the court system were wonderful to deal with," he said. "They were kind and supportive and gave us a sense that someone else cared about what had happened and was concerned that justice must be done."

Ryan said his attorney, Frederick Trotta, will file a wrongful death civil suit against Cable.

State's Attorney David Shepack, who had asked for a minimum five-year prison sentence, declined to comment on the case.

At the time of Cable's arrest, his attorney, Kevin Smith, said his client had been disoriented by injuries in the crash and did not realize he was leaving the scene of an accident. He also said his client lived in Rhode Island at the time and was not trying to avoid arrest.